Early MOH Review Scores A 'Black Eye' For EA Management

Currently holding 74% and 76% Metacritic scores on PS3 and X360 respectively, it's safe to say that whilst early reviews of Medal of Honor have indicated that the game is perfectly solid, it's not quite as special as EA would have liked us to believe.

Cowen and Company analysists Doug Cruetz and Adam Noily, in a post-release report entitled 'Early Medal of Honour reviews look decidedly Tier 2', have suggested that failing to reach a score of 85-90% overall so far has been something of 'a black eye for EA management given the amount of focus and hype they have placed on the game'.

'We believe the mixed reviews could impact the title's legs as it will likely be competitively disadvantaged once Activision releases Call of Duty: Black Ops. We continue to believe MoH can achieve roughly 4MM units in first year worldwide sales but believe that the likelihood of upside to that figure is now significantly diminished.'

Speaking to LA Times, EA have been quick to shrug off the lower scores, suggesting that unlike certain direct competitors, this is a series that has lain dormant for a few years and that the company is looking at a long-term strategy

'Critics' scores are highly subjective,' it said. 'The game had the highest pre-orders in the 11-year history of the Medal of Honor franchise; this is an essentially big achievement considering Medal of Honor has been dormant for several years.

'This is the first year in rebooting the franchise. Medal of Honor is part of a larger EA strategy to take share in the shooter category. This is a marathon not a sprint -– today's Medal of Honor launch represents a step forward in that race.'

Unfortunately, the company's share price dropped by 6p overnight, although some analysts have suggested that the drop, following a six week rise, has come as a result of inflated levels of expectation: 'I think it's a situation where some of the air is being let out of the balloon following a nice run in the shares and high expectations,' said MKM's Eric Handler. [GamesIndustry.biz]

We'll have our own review for you soon, but what are your opinions on all of this? Still psyched, or going to give it a miss?

Steam Borderlands Owners Will Get DNF Early Access

As well as those who've purchased the Borderlands Game of the Year re-release, it seems that gamers who bought Gearbox's shooter via Steam will get codes for the Duke Nuker Forever Early Access demo according to Kotaku. The demo won't be available until next year, though, and Steve Gibson has indicated that the demo will also be made available to the rest of the public at some stage too, although there's no concrete date set for it yet.

Can't wait that long? Check out our hands-on impressions here!

Nathan Fillion Mounting A Campaign To Become Nathan Drake

With the Uncharted movie reportedly back on track under writer/director David O. Russell, this news has surprised...absolutely no-one. Talking about the role, the Firefly and Castle star recently tweeted 'If ever there was a Twitter campaign, let this be it. Rise, ye Browncoats. Rise, ye Castillions. RISE!'.

Whilst some of us are still a little upset that Firefly was ever cancelled, seeing Nathan Fillion in anything would be awesome, quite frankly. But what of Nolan North himself, should the original actor be considered for the role? Who would you like to see pulling it off? Let us know down below. [1UP]

TIGA Releases Free Career Guide For Budding Students

At the launch of this year's London Games Festival, UKIE Chairman Andy Payne gave a rousing speech that firmly saw UK games development as the future cornerstone of the country's entertainment industry, placing a huge emphasis on education and encouraging young people to realise that you can have a legitimate career in the industry, and have boatloads of fun while you're doing.

We already saw a large careers presence at the Eurogamer Expo earlier this year and now UK games industry trade body TIGA has released a free-to-download guide aimed at students and young people contemplating a career. The guide outlines the qualifications required, advisable course choices, potential career progression as well as which areas of the country offer the best opportunities.

'In our experience people are often unaware of the fantastic opportunities that exist in the UK games industry,' said CEO Richard Wilson. 'They also do not realize the size of the industry here in the UK. We hope this guide will offer people practical, straight-forward advice on how to secure a job in this exciting sector.'